Improvement in wrenches



@www

wat @sind l (lt-flirt. aasWMnaigQ/ 'www Ms@ e,...

AE. J. LE-YBU-RN, OF LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA.

Letters Patent No. 82,962, dated October 13, 186.8.

IMPROVEMENT IN TRENCI-IES.

The Schedule referred to inthese Letters'Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, E. J. LEYBURN, of Lexington, in the coimty of Rockbridge, and State of Virginia, have invented a new and improved vWrench; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the improved wrench, complete. 4

Figure 2 is a top view of the wrench.

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the same.

Figure 4 is a cross-section through the wrench.

Figure 5 is a bottom view of the improved wrench, having its jaws provided with a right' and left screw rod for adjusting them.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this' invention is to construct a nutwrench with jaws, that can be adjusted and set at different distances apart for nuts of various sizes, and to so apply these jaws to the handle of the wrench, that they can be turned withetheir handle either to Vthe right or left, or the handle turned independently f' of them, thereby admitting a nut to be turned any number of times without detaching said jaws from it,

as will be hereinafter explained.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

The handle A of the wrench is constructed with a circular eye-piece or collar, B, on one end, and also with a depression, e', in one side. vThe said eye-portion B receives a tubular hub, D2, on one end of which a right and left ratchet-wheel, D, is formed or secured, and on the opposite end, an enlargement, D', is secured, from which latter two arms E E extend, as shown in the several figures of the accompanying drawings.

Upon the depressed portion i of handle A, and pivoted to this handle at b, is a right and. left pawl-lever, C, having two arresting-portions a a formed on that end next the wheel D, and having its opposite end made sufficiently wide to allow it to be moved either to the right or left by a thumb and nger of the hand that grasps the handle A.

By pressing the pawl C to one side, one ofthe teeth a will engage with the teeth of ratchet-wheel D, and lock this wheel to the handle, so that it will be turned with the handle in one direction, and by pressing pawl C to the opposite side, Vthe other tooth, a, will lock wheel D to its handle, so as to turn therewith in an opposite direction to that above mentioned. By holding pawl O so that neither one of its teeth c will engage with wheel D, this wheel Acan be turned eely in its circular eye-piece B.

The nut-griping jaws F F, shown in iigs. 1, 3, and

4, aresecured to the arms E E, by means of bolts g gA and thumb-nuts h. The bolts pass through slots e, made through the said arms, and allow the jaws F to be adjusted when nuts h are loosened and set at different distances apart.

The heads of the bolts workin depressions d, formed in the upper sides of the arms E, and the foot-portion of each jaw F has a tenon formed on it, which fits int a groove, f, made in, its arm E, and thus prevents each jaw from turning around its bolt.

Inlig. 5, the nut-griping jaws F F are represented as being made much longer than the jaws shown in the other gures, so as to gripe a nut by their extended ends, or by those portions opposite the holder Dl. These jaws, F F, of iig.l 5, have holes made through them, so as to receive the arms E E, and slide on these arms toward and from the central hole c. To adjust and set these jaws of iig. 5 at different distances apart, I use a right and left screw, J, with a cylindrical serrated nger-portion, J', seated into the holder D1. .By means of this right and left screw J, the two nut-griping jaws can be adjusted simultaneously, and with greater facility than by the bolts and nuts shown in ligs. 3 and 4. I therefore prefer to adopt the device shown in fig. 5, but do not confine myself thereto.

To use the improved wrench, the handle A is grasped in the hand, and the jaws F F are adjusted at the required distance apart,` at equal distances from the axis of the hole c, and placed -upon a nut, G, as shown in fig. 4, with the axis of the bolt H coinciding with the axis ofthe hole c, or, if the wrenchjaws are constructed with extended ends, as shown in iig. 5, the nut may belconfined between such ends. The pawl C is then properly adjusted in place against the toothed wheel'D, so as to cause this wheel and the jaw-carrying portion D1 to turn with the handle Ain the direction which it is required to screw up or unscrew the nut. While turning a nut, the pawl C is held in place by the pressure of the nger, and while turning backward, to commence a new movement of the nutthe pressure on pawl C is relieved, so that this pawl allows the handle to swing freely about the hub-.portion D? without moving the jaw-holding por tions and nut. f

I am aware that wrenches have been made and used before my invention, wherein a nut-receiving socket-portion was applied to a handle, so as to allow the screwing up or unscrewing nuts of a given size by giving a vibrating movement to the handle, and without removing said socket-portion from the nut being acted upon, and' therefore I do not lay claim tothe broad principle of having the nut-jaws or socket of a wrench s0 applied to a handle tliat a` rotary motion in one direction can be given to such jaws by vibrating the handle thereof.

I do not claim a ring-ratchet with the wrench-jaws 'anged within and circumscribed by it. Nor do I im a springpawl, which is adjustable to the right left of the-centre of such a ringratchet, as such a ench would be very cumbersome and heavy if con- 'ucted for use upon large nuts, it being necessary to large the ring in proportion as the space between a jaws is desired to be increased 5 and besides this, 3h a wrench was patented by L. D. Gilman, Aust 5, 1856.

Neither do I claim a ratchet which has one portion its circle or periphery cut away in order to admit the application of the Wrench-jaws to it, as such a ench will not admit of an unbroken or a continuons )vement around a circle, nor will it serve as a right l. rEhe arrangement of the arrns E E and jaws F F, in relation to the unbroken ratchet, (which ratchet is capable of being turned through a complete circle,) s o that said jaws are adjustable for large and small nuts, Within the capacity of the Wrench, without a corresponding enlargement ofthe ratchet-Whee1 being necessary, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the pivoted right and left pawl a a With the arms E E and adjustable jaws F F. substantially as and for the pru'pose described.

Y 3. The jaw-holding portion D, E E, hub D, ratchetFwheel .1), adjustable jaws F F, handle A, land paWl C, a a, all combined and arranged substantially as described.

E. J. LEYBURN.

Witnesses:

JOHN F.' HU'rcHnsoN, JOHN HU'rcHEsoN. 

